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Life Sciences research on Space Station will utilize rats to study the effects of the microgravity environment on mammalian physiology and to develop countermeasures to those effects for the health and safety of the crew. The animals will produce metabolic water which must be reclaimed to minimize logistics support. The condensate from the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) flown on Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2) in October 1993 was used as an analog to determine the type and quantity of constituents which the Space Station (SS) water reclamation system will have to process. The most significant organics present in the condensate were 2-propanol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, acetic acid, acetone, total proteins, urea and caprolactam while the most significant inorganic was ammonia. Microbial isolates included Xanthomonas, Sphingobacterium, Pseudomonas, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Chrysosporium.

The Biological Flight Research Laboratory (BFRL) includes a large (approximately 2.5 meter) diameter centrifuge, biospecimen habitats, a microgravity habitat holding unit, a glovebox, a unit for the routine servicing of biospecimen chambers, and generic laboratory equipment. It is being designed to support non-human life sciences research on Space Station Freedom. To assure the health and welfare of biospecimens and flight crew, the BFRL must provide containment of particulate, microbial and potentially hazardous chemical substances as well as isolation of the inhabitant biospecimens from the cabin environment. There are currently no clear definitions within NASA of what constitutes a biological hazard or how such material should be contained and handled. This paper defines many of the risk concepts of concern to NASA and recommends requirements for the design and operation of life sciences spaceflight hardware and experiments.

Animal research on the Space Station presents the need for bioisolation, which is here defined as instrumental and operational provisions, which will prevent the exchange of particles greater than 0.3 μ size and microorganisms between crew and animals. Current design principles for the Biological Research Project thus call for: 1. use of specific pathogen-free animals; 2. keeping animals at all times in enclosed habitats, provided with microbial filters and a waste collection system; 3. placing habitats in a holding rack, centrifuge, and workbench, all equipped with particulate and odor filters, 4. washing dirty cage units in an equipment cleaner, with treatment and recycling of the water; 5. designing components and facilities so as to ensure maximal accessibility for cleaning; 6. defining suitable operational procedures. Limited ground tests of prototype components indicate that proper bioisolation can thus be achieved.

An inventory was made of the quantities and types of wastes to be produced by typical missions proposed by NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) for the initial operational phase (IOC) of the Space Station. Of the 35 missions inventoried, 21 missions involve “payloads” (instrument packages) attached externally to the Space Station, 12 involve payloads that are located on “free-flying” platforms remote from the Station and 2 missions, (Life Sciences and Materials Sciences laboratories) comprise a complex series of experiments to be carried out inside the Station's pressurized volume. The study objective was to acquire the information needed to define preliminary OSSA waste management requirements for the Space Station and the National Space Transportation System. The study revealed that all missions combined will generate approximately 5350 kg (11800 lbs) of waste (solid, liquid and gas) every 90 days.

The Advanced Programs Office at NASA Ames Research Center has defined hypothetical experiments for a 90-day mission on Space Station to allow analysis of the materials necessary to conduct the experiments and to assess the impact on waste processing of recyclable materials and storage requirements of samples to be returned to earth for analysis as well as of non-recyclable materials. The materials include the specimens themselves, the food, water, and gases necessary to maintain them, the expendables necessary to conduct the experiments, and the metabolic products of the specimens. This study defines the volumes. flow rates, and states of these materials, Process concepts for materials handling will include a cage cleaner, trash compactor, biological stabilizer, and various recycling devices.